


The Life of Pie

by SlipFromGrasp



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Alternate Universe - Fraternity, Alternate Universe - Pizza Place, College AU, Established Alex Danvers/Kelly Olsen, Eventual Smut, F/F, Kara Danvers has powers, Kara is Kryptonian, Minor Samantha "Sam" Arias/James Olsen, There is no Supergirl, fraternity au, pizza shop au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-10
Updated: 2020-12-16
Packaged: 2021-03-02 22:40:37
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,215
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24104548
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SlipFromGrasp/pseuds/SlipFromGrasp
Summary: Lena has to deliver pizza for extra cash. She doesn’t want the locals to know who she is but she definitely wants one particular customer to know about herOrKara meets a pizza girl with a sweet ride and pretty eyes but worries about what her friends have uncovered.(This is set in 2012, when they would have been college-age).
Relationships: Kara Danvers & Lena Luthor, Kara Danvers/Lena Luthor
Comments: 55
Kudos: 416





	1. Chapter 1

“Kieran! Order number 24, order number 25...do you know where Frat Row is?”

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Just checking, you’re new,” Eve said with her sickly sweet lilt. “24 goes to Epsilon Lambda, 25 goes to Delta Alpha Xi. You know the Greek alphabet, right?”

“Just give me the food.”

Kieran would jab Eve in the throat if it didn’t mean losing this job at Giuseppe's Pizzeria. But ‘Kieran’ can’t do that because Eve was the boss’ favorite and because she is actually Lena Kieran Luthor. And she is broke. Well, not truly broke; her tuition is paid for all the way through grad school. But actual spending money? Cold hard cash? Lillian Luthor put an end to that two weeks ago.

Over summer break, between her freshman and sophomore year, Lena got the bright idea that she would minor in Irish history. She spent the lionshare of her time peering through microscopes or staring at computer screens with sensor data or thousands of lines of code. She wanted to study something less technical, more personal. It would also drive Lillian nuts but that was a side bonus, a treat.

Lena thought it would blow over in a few days.

It did not.

Lillian was already upset that the youngest Luthor passed on the likes of Yale, Stanford, and MIT for National City University. At the very least, Lillian could have stomached one of those Northeastern liberal arts schools, like Wellesley or Vassar. Good alumni, long history and political lineage. But a local football school? The gall. The audacity!

An Irish studies minor, in Lillian’s eyes, was a clear nod to whatever backwater Lionel brought her from, and an insult that could not go unpunished.

So she cut Lena off. No access to her trust fund, no allowances, no credit cards, not even the emergency black card. Lena had one last appeal before the Luthor staff finished packing her car.

“What if something happens, _Mother_?” Lillian hated when Lena called her that; only Lex said it with sincerity. “You’ll never forgive yourself.”

“Please, every hospital within 10 miles of that dump you call a school has a wing or lab with the name ‘Luthor’ on it. You merely need to show your ID. Your room and board is paid, you have a meal plan and all your books have been ordered. There’s a full service warranty on your car or should I take that too?” Lillian had that little smile she gets when she knows she’s won. “Plus, if you’re not out spending my money, what could possibly happen to you?”

She was relentless.

Lena rolled her eyes and hopped into her car. “You know Mom, I have other resources.” Lena shut the door, hit the ignition button, thinking to herself: _Lex could front her a small fortune._

She was sure of it.

A quick phone call informed Lena that Lex could not front her a small fortune. In fact, Lex couldn’t front her a ham sandwich.

“Yea, that’s gonna be impossible sis. Mother said--and I quote--‘if you even look at a transfer screen with her name on it, I’ll have you in a cell next to the Unabomber.’”

“Can she do that?”

“I’m not inclined to find out. Ask one of your ‘friends’, you know, Joe-something-or-other or the vaguely Cuban-looking one.” Lex grooms minions, so he could never understand the concept of friendship or even remembering their names.

“Well, Jack is taking a gap year in Dubai—”

“He’s on a three month bender—“

“And I’m not borrowing money from Sam, she’s on a partial scholarship as it is.”

“Hmph, can’t relate. Well, you can always do what everyone else does when they're broke.”

“Start a casino out of their dorm?”

“No, tried that a decade ago, too much overhead and the Feds eventually came calling. Get a job kiddo.”

“Way ahead of you. I have an interview at some local places. The on-campus jobs have all these limits on hours and there’s no tips. Off-campus I can get actual cash in my hand.”

“Can’t wait to read about this in your memoir. ‘Chapter 11: Slumming It With the Locals’”

“Goodbye Lex.”

* * *

Two weeks later, she was pulling up to Epsilon Lambda. It was a three-story brick house with white pillars in the front. A red and gold-trimmed “ΕΛ” was carved onto the blue second floor fascia.

A few moments after ringing the bell, a wide-eyed girl with brown skin opened the door.

“Order for…” Lena fumbled with the receipt. “Alexandra Danvers?”

The girl chuckled and yelled to someone further in the house. “Hey Al, they’re asking for you by your government name! Here, I can take it.”

“I would but the shop wants us to see the card it was ordered with. Especially on big orders like this.” Lena needed help from another driver just to get it all in the car. 

“Alex, bring the card quick, the food is getting cold!”

“Kelly quit yelling, you don’t even like pizza.” A pale, auburn-haired girl—presumably Alex—appeared, card in hand. She gave the other girl a quick kiss on the cheek.

“I don’t like _Giuseppe’s_ pizza, too much basil.” 

“So the vegetable calzone must be for you?” Lena’s arms were getting numb from everything she was holding.

“Yes and thank you!” Kelly grabbed her food, pinched Alex on the side and ran off.

“Dude, there’s a fuck-ton of food here, you gotta be kidding!” Alex turned to Lena, clearly exasperated. “Here’s the card, where do I sign?”

“Um, yea, right her—”

Lena struggled to get the receipt and pen on top of the 4 pizzas before she was interrupted by a raspy voice: “I heard the words ‘fuck-ton’ and ‘food’, what did I miss?”

Lena looked up to see a pair of expectant pale blue eyes, framed by waves of dirty blonde hair. The girl wore a shortsleeve Dodger-blue NCU shirt, the sleeves rolled up past her biceps. A single, deep throb hit well below her waist. Suddenly pizza delivery seemed totally worth it.

There must have been an extended awkward moment because a cough from Alex suddenly cut in. “The pen, please?”

“Um—uh, yea, here. While you sign, I’ll go get the cases of Gatorade.”

The raspy voice spoke again. “I’ll help you with that.” The blonde immediately started toward the car. “Ooo, a Tesla! Can you click the door?”

Alex got very tense. “Kara if you break it, I swear to god.” She tried to reassure Lena, “Just unlock the door, she’ll be quick.”

 _Kara. Her name is Kara._ Lena filed this away for later. She clicked the car remote.

“You don’t have to do that, I can get the drin—“

In what felt like a blink, Kara had both cases, stacked on top of each other and was walking back like it was nothing. “Lemonade, my favorite.”

 _Kara powerlifts cases of Gatorade._ Good to know. Lena swore she winked at her.

Alex unceremoniously stacked the 4 pizzas on top of the Gatorade cases as Kara stepped back into the house. It seemed physically impossible. She had a curious look on her face. “Here’s the receipt. You’re new, right?”

Feigning surprise, Lena replied, “What gave it away?”

“Well, nobody calls me ‘Alexandra’. And on Thursdays we usually get Mike or Lucy. Are they on tonight?”

“Yea, Mike helped me pack the car. I met Lucy when I interviewed. They seemed cool, I guess.”

“Yea, they’re not so bad. Watch out for Eve though.”

“Oh...yea, her.”

Lena hopped back in her car, almost in a daze from what transpired. It was just a delivery! She wish she gave her name though, just to be friendly.

When she pulled up to the other house, she realized Alex kept her pen.

 _Oh no_.

* * *

“Winn, you should have seen her. _I’ll help with that!_ Like a lapdog.” 

“Shush! You ordered enough drinks for an army and there was no way she could carry them.” Kara said sheepishly. It was silly to deny it, she knew exactly what she was doing.

“One cute girl shows up and you start preening. I know you changed into that shirt on purpose too, you heard her pull up to the hous—“

A pizza crust hit Alex square in the forehead, no doubt due to Kara’s pinpoint accuracy. This was a temporary stop gap measure. Once the roasting started, there was no stopping it.

Kara’s abilities weren’t a secret within Epsilon Lambda. It was a small science frat. Kelly, James, and Winn had met Alex and Kara in high school and they all kind of just fit together. 

“Does this mystery driver have a name?” Winn was already itching to hack their student records: dorm, major, grades, meal points. “Kelly, you get on her Instagram, see what we’re dealing with.”

“I couldn’t get her name because I had a stack of pizzas in my face.” Kara looked directly at Alex.

Alex had a devilish grin. “I wouldn’t worry about that. You didn’t get a name, but she left this.”

A LuthorCorp pen.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lena takes stock of her first night of work.
> 
> Kara is spurred to action by Alex.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you guys didn't expect them to jump right in. We'll get there, I promise ;)
> 
> If it looks weird, I'm having an issue with formatting, something about pasting from Google Docs to Ao3 making the space wonky? If anyone has tips on that, hit up my tumblr at slipfromgrasp

“It’s just a pen, she could have got that from anywhere!”

“We don’t know that, we have to rule it out.”

“Oh yea, every 19 year old with a company pen is probably a billionaire heiress! Get a grip.”

Alex had been scouring the internet and was convinced that their last pizza driver is really some rich kid from Metropolis. And not just any rich kid but Lex Luthor’s mysterious unnamed step-sister. Kara thinks it's ridiculous.

“James, tell Alex she’s crazy.”

James was just about to walk out of the house, to avoid this exact situation.

“Uh….” He looked nervously between the two sisters. “It’s a...flimsy theory? I interned at Catco last year and I’ve got a crapload of stationery from them.”

Alex didn’t want to hear it. “James, I will fight you.”

“Good to know.” And he skipped out the door.

“She’s driving a 2012 Tesla! Who does that?”

Kara started rubbing her temples at the pure insanity of it all. “You know what year her car is?”

“I googled a photo, calm down. Last year’s Model S had different lines on the hood, so it must be a new model.” Alex made it seem all very matter of fact. “I’m less concerned with her car and more concerned with her garbage brother. Chemical dumping, no-bid contracts with the government, that incident in Helsinki.”

Kara just shook her head. “You know you can just ask for her name. We know where she works.”

“No no no, that means talking to Eve. That’s a non-starter.”

“Fine, I’ll go Friday evening, before the game. We’ll put in a pickup order.” Kara just really hoped the driver was there, no guarantees they would send her with another order. “And what’s your problem with Eve? She just punches the register.”

Alex got very quiet and started typing very quickly.

“Oh god, please don’t tell me—“

“Look, freshman year was a blur—“

“So you slept with a townie?”

At that very moment, Kelly walked into the den.

“Kara. Shut. Up.” Alex gritted through her teeth.

Kelly plopped down next Alex on the couch. “So have we found ‘The Girl’?” adding air quotes for dramatic effect.

“Not really. Kara is going into the lion’s den tomorrow to get some answers.”

“I think that’s really brave of you,” Kelly said. Kara beamed at this. 

“Word of advice: subtlety isn’t your strong suit, so just go in there and ask, no sense in mincing words.” 

_Kelly giveth, Kelly taketh away_ , Kara thought.

Kara couldn’t wait for tomorrow evening. She had one class, a geology lecture at 2pm. She’d get out of that at 4, and call in the order at Giuseppe’s. NCU was on the road but it was a primetime game, so restaurants were always busy; best to get in line quickly. But for now, in bed, all she could think about was waves of black hair, striking green eyes staring up at her, her hands tracing the lines of a square jaw. Kara counted 3 freckles on her neck; she wondered how many more peppered her porcelain skin?

She wondered if the girl thought about her at all.

* * *

Lena hit her bed face-first at 1am.

“That bad huh?” Her roommate Sam was still up, with a reading light attached to a book. Lena always found this strange, she didn’t know Millennials used reading lights.

Lena turned her head just enough to speak. “Sam, I swear to god, if I hear the word ‘dollface’ one more time, I’ll murder someone.”

“Don’t do _that_ , then your real name will be in the papers and they _might_ charge you.”

Lena is known to the school and 99% of National City as “Kieran Joseph”. It was Lillian’s idea. They could pull it off because before moving out West, none of the Luthors had personal social media and Metropolis was one of those cities where billionaires fell off trees, like New York City.

 _If you’re going to go to this school, it should be a clandestine endeavor_ , Lena remembers her adoptive mother saying. _No sense in sullying our good name_.

Lena told Sam who she was the moment Lillian and her phalanx of servants left their freshman dorm. No sense in lying to someone she’d spend half her time around. And as if the college gods properly interpreted her prayers, Samantha Arias was all the good stuff with none of the bad.

She had Lex’s morbid sense of humor but without the psychopathic tendencies. She had Lillian’s vision but without the delusions. And she matched Lena’s drive while knowing when to blow off steam or actually sleep.

Lena couldn’t ask for a better friend.

Which was why she needed Sam to cyberstalk Kara.

“The night was doomed from the start because my first order went to the hottest girl on campus.”

“I didn’t order any pizza so that’s impossible,” Sam said without looking up from her book.

“Very funny. She lives in a sorority house or frat house, it's hard to tell.” Lena turned over onto her back. “Didn’t see any guys but that might not mean anything.”

“What does Ms. Hottest-on-Campus look like?” Sam still hadn’t looked up.

“Oh wow…” Lena got this wistful, dreamy look on her face. “She has wavy blonde hair past her shoulders, clear blue eyes, and these arms...like—“

Lena put her hands up in the air as if she was squeezing something.

“Like…”

Sam finally put her book down. “Arms like what?”

“What’s the Spanish word for ‘strong’?”

“ _Fuerte_. So a pretty face and some arms threw you off for the whole night? I don’t believe that.”

“Well after she carried like 70 pounds worth of stuff into the house, I kind of got distracted and forgot my pen, which has LuthorCorp written all over it. It's silly, I know...it’s just a work pen but it has me nervous. And then every order after that was just a little awkward.”

“You’re worried she’ll figure out who you are?”

“Not Kara but this redhead who actually made the order, Alex something. She kept the pen on purpose, I know it.” Lena sighed, she was so tired. “I didn’t even get her whole name. I didn’t tell her ‘my name’!”

“Ok, ok, calm down.” Sam hops out of bed and opens up her laptop. “Before they get to you, let’s get to them.” She opens up the school directory, which stupidly lists students' major and dorm location. A stalker's dream. “Is it ‘Cara with a C’ or a ‘K’?”

“I have no idea. You sure this is a good idea, I don’t want to go down one of those rabbit holes again.” Last girl Lena got excited about turned out to be a total wack job. Lillian had to make her disappear.

“Well there are a whopping...11 Caras and 6 Karas at NCU.”

“Ridiculous. Let me see the K-list...Kara Adams, Belmont, Breyer, Carlton, Kara Danve—oh shit, that’s her!”

“You sure?” Sam clicked on the school profile. “Major: Communications and Marketing; Minor: Geology. Weird pairing for your _chica muy fuerte_.”

Lena started pacing around. “Danvers…They’re sisters or cousins maybe.”

“She’s got an IG...oh god, her handle: _KDTheRealMVP_? She sounds delightful. I see a lot of pier jumping and rock climbing...this black guy who never has his shirt on...are these the parents...She doesn’t look like either of them...ah! Here we go..."

Sam had pulled up a photo, dated a few months back. Kara was shoving a handful of cake--pride flag colored--into Alex's face. The caption read: 

**#HBDBigSis #LoveYou #PSYouStillOweMe20Bucks**

"Is this the redhead? Alex? She’s cute.”

Lena shook her head. “She’s taken.”

Sam sucked her teeth. “Figures. Taken by who exactly?”

“No, we’re not doing that.”

“We’re not doing that!” Sam pushed herself away from the desk like it has cooties. She’d look tomorrow when Lena wasn’t around.

Lena stopped pacing and sat down, back ramrod straight, an unfocused look in her eyes.

Sam looks at her, “What are you thinking?”

She chews her lip a bit. “I just want to see her again. And give her my name.”

“Which one though?”

Lena didn’t dare answer that question truthfully. But in her dreams there were no lies to be told. That raspy voice said her name—her real name—several times, as someone, with something, plowed into her from behind. Strong hands on her hips and the words “My favorite” whispered in her ear left no doubt as to who she was with.

The next morning she knew what she had to do.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies, its been 84 years since I posted Chapter 2. Life stuff and work stuff has kind of gotten in the way of me focusing on writing.
> 
> Also, I seem to be incapable of smutting it up without plot so bear with me. We will get there eventually.

Lena figured she had two options: Orchestrate an encounter with this Kara Danvers or whither away in a cocoon of pining and unfulfilled lesbian want.

The choice was clear.

Now to do it in such a way that she didn’t come off as a complete stalker. NCU was a fairly large school, with many surrounding pizza shops and many Greek houses with fit blondes. Why would she suddenly show up at Epsilon Lambda again when it could be any other delivery person?

She decided to show up early to her noon shift, to see if she could grease the wheels with Lucy. As soon as she walked in the storeroom, she feared her plan was torpedoed.

“Oh, I know that look.” Lucy was folding boxes in advance of the evening rush.

“What look?” Lena wondered if she was always this transparent or was everyone else this perceptive.

“That’s the ‘I’ve-only-worked-here-for-a-day-and-I-need-a-favor’ Look.” She pushed a completed stack to her left, placed some unfolded boxes to her right, and patted the table for Lena. “Your turn.”

Lena sighed. She rolled up the sleeves of her shirt, a red crew neck tee, with a block letter “G” on her heart. The back shamefully read _Real G’s Move In Silence Like Bologna._

After about 12 boxes were done, Lucy put down her phone and said “Ok let’s hear it.”

“Um...well I was going to ask if you knew anything about that frat, with the white pillars in front?”

“What, E.L.? They’re new, compared to the other houses, I mean. I think they’re into bio or something. What, you wanna join?”

“Oh no, not my speed.”

“So it's a boy, then?”

Lena had to laugh. “Good god. No.”

Lucy suddenly developed a curious look. Like she was putting something together. Lena felt like she’d seen this face before. “It’s the blonde, isn’t it?”

Lena wasn’t used to being read like a book. “Uh—I...listen—“

“Are you blushing?” Lucy teased. “It’s ok, some of those sorority girls are pretty hot.”

“Ok! Let me just get to the point. If you get an order to E.L., can I take it instead?”

“Eve doles out the orders, not me.”

Lena hung her head down. “Lucy, please!”

“Ok, ok, you sound pitiful.” She didn’t really mean it. “I’ll see what I can do, you already know Eve is a butt about everything, so no guarantees.”

Lena’s eyes lit up. Just when she was about to hug Lucy the door swung open. It was Mike.

“Oh good you have boxes, pre-game rush is early today.” He grabbed 3 large cans of tomato sauce—stacked on top of each other—and took Lena’s stack of boxes in his right hand. Then he zipped out of the storeroom. Lena got a short sense of deja vu at that.

“Since I’m helping you get laid,” Lucy said as she put on her faded Giuseppe hoodie, “You can finish folding these boxes. I’ll tell Eve you’re starting at 1 instead of noon today.”

“On it!”

So fold away she did. 1pm came and went. It was fairly busy, both in shop and for deliveries. Lena didn’t understand the obsession with football at NCU, but apparently there’s a whole ecosystem built around it. Beer, pizza, wings, sandwiches, the bar scene. The whole town was buzzing and the team wasn’t even here!

But the only thing not happening at Giuseppe’s was a call from Epsilon Lambda. Even worse, on her 4th run, Lena was summoned to Delta Alpha Xi.

The house reminded Lena of all the bad frat tropes in the movies: red cups on the lawn, a car port of BMWs, Range Rovers, and Porsches, a smell of stale beer and weed emanating from God knows where. It was a large ugly house that wanted to be a castle but didn’t quite make it.

After ringing the bell twice she was just about to walk back to her car when a pale, brown haired boy with a comical-looking chin cleft answered the door. He wore khakis and a purple and white cardigan with the letters ΔΑΞ on the left side. A cardigan, in 2012.

“Order for Benjamin Lockwood?”

He smiled and said “It’s just Ben.” He proceeded to undress her with his eyes, without really being sly about it.

Lena needed an exit strategy. “Well if you could just sign he—“

“You should come to our party next week.” He snapped his fingers at someone inside the house. A minion of some kind, lacking the cardigan, appeared and took the food. Ben then crossed his arms and leaned against the door frame. He seemed in no rush to end this encounter. “It’ll be the first real bash of the year. Week 1 doesn’t really count, it's just people clearing their throat.”

Lena needed this delivery to not really count.

“Uh, I have a really...rigorous double major, I study on Saturday. Can you sign—“

Ben leaned in very close and almost whispered, “Oh come on, dollface, nobody studies on Saturday night.” He definitely brushed the back of his hand on her chest.

Lena didn’t hear anything after the word “dollface”. At some point, something or someone hit Ben in the nose and someone was definitely speeding back to Giuseppe’s.  
  


* * *

Kara could have skipped this class, hell, could have swung missing half the scheduled lectures and just shown up for labs, quizzes, and exams. GEO 203: _Earth System Science._ Plate tectonics, carbon cycle, oceanic circulation. She found it interesting because studying rocks reminded her of her father and Krypton. She found it boring because she has a photographic memory and read the whole textbook in 90 seconds.

She actually showed up late to class because she was worried about her outfit. Should she dress up, just in the hopes she sees this girl? Or just go with the usual: a henley and her worn out Chucks? Maybe pretend she was coming from the gym? It was still pretty warm, the dregs of summer fading away, she could get away with a tank top without anyone being suspicious.

Hair up or down? Glasses?

Eventually she realized she was overthinking. It’s just a pizza girl, maybe another student. The Usual won out. She kept the glasses, pulled her hair into a ponytail, and got on with her life.

4pm couldn’t come fast enough.

“...and next week we’ll be looking at whose to blame for climate change. Spoiler alert: it’s us, humans are to blame.” Professor had finally cut them loose. Kara had to focus in order to not superspeed out of the lecture hall.

Kara called in the pickup order on the way to the parking lot: 5 pizzas, Guiseppe’s awful buffalo wings (only Winn liked them), a veggie dip plate (because Kelly insisted there be greens), and James’ well-done fries (which he will never eat because Kara will get to them first). It wasn’t meant to be a full-on football party but they put the word out on Facebook so the house was open to virtually anyone on campus.

Giuseppe’s was part of a dreary looking strip mall about 5 minutes from the main campus. It was between a laundromat and a questionable Chinese take out spot. The parking lot was very busy, so much so that a driver was arguing with a customer over parking directly in front of the shop. Kara just sidestepped that mess and walked into the crowded shop. Eve picked her out of the crowd immediately.

“I know you called but it’s going to be at least another 30!”

“It’s fine!” Kara was practically screaming over the crowd. She waded through to the counter, much to the dismay of some other customers. “I actually wanted to ask you something.”

Eve sighed deeply, clearly frustrated with the rush and the possibility of Kara’s inane question. “Listen, I don’t have time for th—”

A loud noise came from the corner pinball machine, surrounded by a handful of frat boys. Eve was about to lose it.

“Hey, Fredo Corleone, the machine takes quarters, not kicks!” She turned to Kara, “Whatever it is, ask Lucy” and went back to the register and her customers.

Kara looked over on the left side of the shop, close to the backroom door. Lucy was furiously folding boxes, like that guy in the commercial. “This better be important, we’re swamped and one of our drivers is late.”

“Actually I wanted to ask about one of them.” Kara started fidgeting a little, placing her hands in her jeans pockets. “She might be new here?”

“Ah yes, we just give out driver information to customers, totally normal.”

Of course this wouldn’t go over well. Kara nodded, tacitly agreeing that this was a strange ask. “Look, I know it’s weird, inappropriate even, but I just need a name. Dark hair, pale skin, light eyes? Green maybe? Or grayish blue…?”

Lucy started shaking her head. “Wow, you Tigers really are predictable.” 

Kara snapped out of her reverie. “Wait, what is that supposed to mean?”

“It means exactly what you think it means.” Lucy handed a stack of boxes to another worker. “Look, last time a customer asked about a driver around here, we got caught up in one of those frat incidents. Besides, the person you’re looking for just walked in the door.”

Kara whipped around...and there she was. She looked flushed, as if she had been running. She was dragging a pizza bag in her left hand, using her right to push her hair out of her face. Kara wondered what her hair would feel like on her fingertips. 

She handed the bag to another worker, presumably for another order. Kara had to intercept her quickly. Eve was about to send her out again! Kara could see the girl’s shoulders slump at the prospect of going out again.

“Eve, listen, my shift is over in 10 minu—“

“Kieran, order 82! Don’t play games, you’re still on the clock.”

Before Kara could approach the counter, Lucy appeared out of nowhere. “Eve, you’re being an ass right now. I got it.”

“What, are you her fairy godmother?”

“What, are you literally the spawn of Satan?”

The girl—Kieran, apparently—managed to slip away from the counter. And Kara maybe, possibly, definitely bumped into her when she tried to walk to the backroom.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t...see you there.”

Kieran cocked her head to the side. “Yeah you did. No way you missed me with those Buddy Holly frames.”

_...subtlety isn’t your strong suit…_

Kara made a mental note to poke Kelly in the ribs just for being right all the time. Kara was caught red-handed. “Okay, okay. I may have…inserted myself into your…” She started waving her hands around vaguely, afraid of where this thought was going. Kieran was nice enough to help out.

“Into my line of sight?”

“Something like that.”

They both laughed, quietly, at how silly it was. Kara decided to just get to the point.

“We met yesterday and I didn’t get your name. So I figured I’d go right to the source.”

Kieran looked at her, as if she was mulling something over. Briefly Kara wondered if she should have picked the blue henley over the burnt orange or ditched the glasses. Suddenly her expression changed; she came to a decision.

“Kieran. Kieran Joseph.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kara got a name!
> 
> Lena got an invite.
> 
> They both got a little drama though.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, its been forever. I haven’t forgotten about you. We’re in this together lol...
> 
> The toilet bowl joke is a reference to my alma mater FYI
> 
> I hate having a plot but also I found this impossible to write without it so here we are....

“Kieran.” Kara had to test it out on her tongue. “Wow. Okay.”

“Yes, Kieran. You say it like it's great news or something.”

Kara could hardly contain her satisfaction at being right. She knew Alex would be miffed that her conspiracy theory was bunk.

“Just glad I got what I came for.”

Lena was surprised at this. “You came all the way to my job for my name? Hmm, not strange at all.”

“Well I also came for—“

A bell rang from the front counter. “Pickup for Danvers!”

“—for those 5 pizzas.”

Lena saw an opportunity. “I’m clocking out right now, so I can help you get that packed.” Lena was sure this girl didn’t need the help; she was built like an Olympic gymnast on a 6-foot frame.

“Yea, sure...thank you. I’ll be at the counter.”

Lena—or as far as Kara was concerned, Kieran—ran off to punch out and wash the delivery grime off her hands. Her heart was racing. She was actually still a little off from the incident with Lockwood.

_Ok Lena, you’ve gotten this far. Don’t fuck it up._

She met back with Kara, who was casually holding her stack of 5 pizzas and a veggie dip plate that no normal college student would ever eat from.

“You ordered the dip plate? Interesting.” Lena took the rest of the order and followed Kara out.

Kara laughed. “Not me, no way. Kelly, I think you met her? She says we can’t survive on Blue Moon and garlic knots, which is 100% wrong but I don’t have the heart to tell her. I’m the dented Prius right over there.”

“So, all this food.” Lena didn’t want to sound too eager. “Is this for a party?”

“Yeah, we’re having a football watch party, it's opening week. You’re welcome to come.”

 _Welcome to come._ Lena almost dropped the buffalo wings.

“Oh yea? That sounds…cool, yeah.”

“I mean, you don’t have to watch the game. It’s chill, we’ll have beer pong and probably Mario Kart on another tv. Just follow me back, so you’ll get the pizza while it’s still fresh.”

Lena wanted nothing more than to go back with Kara, maybe with a different goal in mind. “I’d come with you but I smell like Giuseppe’s. And I’m not dressed for a party.”

“It’s just football, open door. It’s cool. Your shirt matches your Yeezy’s, you look perfect.”

_She thinks I look perfect. Pretend it’s not a big deal. It’s not a big deal. It’s a big deal._

“Well, I am partial to flattery.” Only from this girl apparently.

Lena followed Kara back to Epsilon. It was silly not to.

* * *

Kara was right. It was “cool”. Lena had kind of forgotten was it like to let loose.

She texted Sam to meet at the frat house. There was Mario Kart and single Greeks, she couldn’t possibly refuse.

Kara re-introduced Lena to Alex. She seemed to get a wary vibe from the older sister. “Kieran Joseph?” There was a noticeable pause, a crinkling of her brow. These Danvers girls seem to process everything right there in front of you. “Okay.”

Alex smiled politely and went over to the couch where other students were.

Well, that test was passed, as far Lena was concerned. Lena asked Kara, jokingly, “Is it my breath?”

“No, she’s just…” Kara had to be careful, she didn’t want to scare Kieran away. “She’s a dingus and always skeptical of anyone who comes within 10 feet of me. Big sister stuff, you know?”

“Sort of...I have an older brother, like, a decade older? He’s...protective in his own way.”

_God, already talking about Lex. Get it together._

Lena felt comfortable with Kara, she realized. She’d only known this girl for a day, made no sense. She hadn’t even gotten Sam’s stamp of approval yet.

That would have to wait as Sam was having a spirited debate with Kara’s friend, Winn.

“Dude, I don’t care how thin an OLED is, if the price point doesn’t come down to the LCD—“

“You MBAs take one econ class and think you understand everything—“

“No, _Winn_ ”—Sam said his name with air quotes—“we take econ classes and minor in engineering or comp sci so we don’t get fooled by jargon from guys like you! Three decades from now LCD will still be king.”

Kara thought she was watching animals on safari. She asked Lena, “Does she argue with everyone like that?”

“Only when she knows she’s right. And it’s true, OLED costs 3 times as much for half the size. It’s only for enthusiasts or…”

“Or who?”

“Uh...people of means.”

Lena left out the part about having 6 of them back home.

Arguments aside, the night was going great.

Apparently NCU was winning (according to Kara at least, Lena couldn’t tell).

She and Sam played Kelly and James (No Shirt Guy from Kara’s Instagram) in beer pong. Kara wouldn’t play because apparently it’s not fair? She’d have to ask about that.

She even managed to get a rise out of Alex during Mario Kart (Winn secretly told her to jump the wall in Wario Stadium). “Oh ho! She doesn’t play fair! I see how it is.” Alex proceeded to crush her in the next 3 races.

“Alright, I give up. Obviously you are the Queen of Rainbow Road.”

“In more ways than one.” Alex winked at Kelly.

Kara, from behind the couch, gently clasped her hands over Lena’s ears, “Alex, please, think of the children.”

_Her hands are warm and soft._

Lena legit thought she’d float away from the brief touch.

“Thank you for coming.”

Lena blinked back into reality. Kara had sat down to her right on the couch, the others had turned their attention to the game or went to get more drinks. “Uh...yea, you’re welcome?”

“I was worried I was too forward, asking you to come to E.L., like I might scare you off?”

_Who could be scared of this girl? She’s like a walking mini-sun._

“Actually I find you quite disarming.”

Lena found her hand in Kara’s. She was so close she could see the gray flecks in her blue eyes.

“Disarming is good?”

Her ponytail was gone, instead her hair was swept to the side. And the top 2 buttons on her shirt were undone. She smelled like rosemary.

“Disarming is very good.”

Lena wanted to know if her lips were as soft as her hands. She was mere seconds from finding out when a scuffle broke out near the front door.

Alex, with a mouthful of pizza yelled out, “Fuck me, who let _them_ in?!”

Kara gently squeezed Lena’s hand in apology, “Stay here ok?”

She and James ran over to break it up.

Ben Lockwood and—presumably—some other ΔΑΞ boys had pushed their way in. Lena didn’t recognize the others, except for one: Mike from work, who was sulking in the back. It was strange to see him with this group: he didn’t go to college.

Ben started looking from side to side like he was expecting a red carpet. “Some spread. No invite to your neighboring Greeks? I didn’t even know queers watched football.”

Kara spat back, “I didn’t know snakes wore pants and yet, here we are. By the way, you...have a little something on your nose?”

This set him off. “Fuck you Danvers, why don’t you—oh you gotta be kidding me. Dollface? In here?”

He had picked Lena out of the crowd that formed between the living room and the foyer. “Don’t call me that”, she said.

Ben sneered at her. “I’ll call you whatever I want.”

A few people in the crowd went “Ooooooooo!!”

It took all of Kara’s restraint to not ruin what was left of this guy’s face. “Dude, I don’t know what your problem is, but this isn’t the time or place.”

James stepped forward between Kara and Ben, mostly in Ben’s space, a clear 4 inches taller. “You guys need to leave. _Now_.” It was posturing: he just didn’t want Kara to get exposed.

Ben breathed in and blew snot out of his nose onto James’ shoe, an attempt to goad him on. “It stinks in here.” There was a long pause, everyone waiting for something to happen. Then Ben snapped his fingers and all his minions started to file out.

From somewhere, Winn yelled out “Yeah, you _better_ run!” to which everyone groaned.

Alex was pissed. “Ok, party’s over, clear out!” She looked over at Kelly, who was clearly shaken. “I hate those guys. Vineyard Vine-wearing bastards.”

Lena wanted to run after Mike, ask him what the hell he was doing with these douchelords but Sam and Kara set upon her first:

“Hon’ what was that all about? And who wears a cardigan in 2012?”

“Kieran, what was that back there? Do you know him? Whose ‘Dollface’? Do you need me to drive you home?”

It was all too much, too soon. “Look, I’ll fill you guys in later. Can we just…” It was then Lena realized she had been drinking but her car was parked outside. Her dorm wasn’t far but it was too risky. Lillian would cover up a DUI but Lena would pay for it in other ways.

“Look, I had a beer like 3 hours ago, I’ll drive you and Sam and just walk back.” It was a lie: Kara was shotgunning High Lifes all night, but it has no effect. “You’re at Edge Hall, right? It’s shaped like a toilet bowl?”

The three girls got in the car. It was only a few blocks away. Kara was going to ask where the lot was before Sam insisted she be dropped at the door first. “For reasons known only to me,” she said. Lena leveled a knowing look at her roommate. Kara didn’t seem to understand.

Soon Sam was conveniently gone and then there were two.

Kara was tempted to ask about the exchange Kieran had with Ben but held off. “So I guess this is where you kick me out?”

“Well it is my car,” Lena said with a faux dismissiveness.

“Wow, way harsh, Tai.”

“Oh! You’re a virgin, who can’t drive?”

Kara smiled. “You caught that, huh?”

“I know my share of references.”

“We could do a re-watch one day. Just you and me.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.”

Lena didn’t want her to leave. She wanted Kara to come upstairs. _We could bang in the car, that’s not illegal in this state, is it?_

Kara reached over to push a lock of Kieran’s hair behind her ear. She was right, everything smelled of Giuseppe’s. Kara didn’t care, she was focused on the sound of Kieran’s heartbeat, how her breath hitched when she touched her, how she clenched her legs close to hide the sce—

Both their phones buzzed, breaking the moment. They stumbled over their words simultaneously, furiously sending replies:

“Uhhh...shit…of course it's Alex...”

_Yes, I’Mm fne, heading bck!_

“Sam, are you—for fuck’s sake...”

_No, we’re not banging in the car, JFC…_

“Take down my number and text me when you get home. If you don’t leave soon your sister will probably send out a search party.”

Kara scoffed, “You don’t know the half.”

She almost walked out of the lot with Kieran’s keys. Maybe those beers had an effect.

* * *

Alex was waiting on the stairwell when Kara returned. “Good, you’re back, I was worried those meatheads might jump you on the way. Then we’d have to explain how I single handedly put a whole frat in the ICU...Are you listening to me?!”

Kara was too busy fiddling with her phone. “Just a sec, Kieran told me to text her when I got back.”

“Did you walk or zip over here?”

Kara looked at her with a blank expression.

“Kara, it’s a 20 minute walk. You have to wait.”

“Oh yea…”

“God what a long night. What _was_ that back there?” Alex said, stepping over an empty pizza box.

Kara followed, picking up random bits of trash. “I don’t know. You saw Lockwood’s face, he got worked over, recently.”

“20 bucks says ‘Kieran’ did it.”

“Her name doesn’t need air quotes and you still owe me 20 from the last bet you lost.”

“Put it on my tab. Oh and why the _fuck_ was Mike with them? Ask your girlfriend about that.”

“I’m not interrogating her, we’re just now getting along.”

“Mmm, ok.” Alex gave her sister a sidelong look. “Well, I’m going up. We’ll clean in the morning? But do me a favor?”

“Yea?”

“Get rid of that veggie plate.”

“You got it.”

* * *

“No way the next frat party is that entertaining.”

Sam was already laid out in bed when Lena walked into the dorm.

“Look, I have an annual two frat party limit.” Lena was so tired, she practically got her head stuck in her shirt when taking it off. “So my social budget is nearly blown. We’ll have to choose carefully next time.”

“As long as that James guy is there, I am all for it.”

“Oh, we’re not stalking Alex’s girlfriend anymore? How quickly a set of abs changes one’s tune.”

“First of all, you’re the last person who should comment on the effect of a six-pack on one’s psyche. Second of all, it doesn’t help that your new girlfriend’s sister’s girlfriend is really hot and super nice. Third of all, your new girlfriend’s sister's girlfriend’s brother also happens to be super hot, super nice, and _single_. No stalking required.”

“Are we sure he’s not gay? Also, he’s bald at age 21. Isn’t that strange to you?”

“Not everyone conducts experiments on themselves and goes bald. Some people just shave their heads.”

“I would say that was low if it wasn’t true. I’m going to bed.”

“No you’re not, you’re gonna stay up texting your soulmate: ‘ _Thanks for sticking up to that guy with the Best Buy khakis and broken nose_.’”

“Shut. Up. Good. Night!”

About 30 minutes later, her phone lit up.

_Kara: Home. Trash duty. Lame ;)_

_Lena replied: Good to hear. And thanks for...telling that guy to shove it…_

_Kara: About that…_

_Lena: I broke his nose._

_Kara: Damn._

_Lena: Look, I can explain…we had a bit of an altercation…_

_Kara: I’m not mad, I just owe my sister 20 bucks._


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A private movie night?
> 
> Some backstory?
> 
> And other stuff maybe?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, long time no see. I haven’t given up, I’m just getting through it.
> 
> This chapter is longer than I expected, probably a bit rambling but I think it gets me where I want to go....

“Are you gonna finish studying or look at your phone all day?”

Lena and Sam had agreed that Thursday afternoon was “Actual Study Time”. They reserved one of the small study rooms in the school library to block everything out. So Sam was a bit upset that Lena kept getting distracted.

“L, this code isn’t going to debug itself. You can look at her sexts later this evening.” Sam reached over to grab Lena’s phone but she was too quick.

“If Scooby-Doo memes count as sexting, then your dms with Photo Boy must amount to sex itself.” Sam didn’t even bother to question how Lena’s has read her dms, it went both ways.

“Don’t call him that. When are you going to see her again?”

Lena pouted, clearly annoyed that she and Kara hadn’t linked up since last Friday. “It’s tough, I’m so busy between school and work. I realize we would never cross paths on campus without a personal effort. She’s in Grant 1 or 2 all day; I’m in the labs.”

It really was amazing that they were technically in the same graduating class at NCU and never bumped into each other during freshman year. Only because Lena stirred the pot with Lillian did fate intervene.

“We’re shooting for Friday evening, hopefully I’m not wiped out after Giuseppe’s.”

“Or have a run-in with your new nemesis.”

“I suspect avoiding him will be an issue no matter what.” Lena could see this Ben guy as a recurring pest: he thinks boundaries don’t apply to him and he’s a homophobe who doesn’t like her would-be new friends. And she hasn’t figured out the angle between him and Mike, who—at least when she met him—seemed fairly nice.

“Lena. Lena? You ok?” Sam shook her wrist, it having landed on the keyboard and spamming repeated letters. “You zoned out there.”

“Sorry, I was just...thinking, about stupid stuff. Look, I can finish this on the weekend, I’m gonna head to work early.” Lena started packing up her stuff, with an idea in mind.

* * *

Lucy worked at Giuseppe’s longer than anyone that wasn’t a cook. So Lena figured she’d know a little bit about Mike (and if she was lucky maybe she’d be discreet about it). When she walked into the backroom, she realized that would prove to be impossible.

“Look who's here”, Eve called out. “Kieran Joseph, Hands of Steel!”

Lucy, Eve, and Mike were sitting around a small table, where they usually fold boxes. They must have been waiting for the shift change. Lucy was flicking some type of folded paper while Mike held up his fingers as a goalpost.

“A little bird told me,” as Eve looks directly at Mike, “that last weekend was eventful.”

Lena was over it. “Lucy, is this what you guys do all week, gossip in the back like old ladies? Campus tripe at that?” It had been a week, Lena figured punching a frat boy would be old news by the next happy hour.

Lucy threw her hands up as if defeated. “Big college, small town mentality. Like all old ladies,” as she looks directly at Eve, “We love our stories, fictional and otherwise.”

“Well, you can tell your old lady and your little bird that Ben Lockwood is a Grade-A asshole and got what was coming to him.” Lena stuffed her street clothes into the locker, slammed it shut, and turned to Mike. “Why were you even with those guys? I could tell you didn’t want to be.”

He shifted in his seat. Talk of Ben and DAX made him uncomfortable, clearly.

Lucy playfully tossed one of her paper triangles at him. “I don’t think Mike is up for spilling all his secrets today.”

“My business is MY business, something that none of you seem to understand. There’s a whole lot about you,” he said, cocking his eyebrow at Lucy, “that I could tell Kieran but I don’t because it’s not my story to tell.”

He stood up abruptly, his chair scraping the linoleum loudly. “I’m gonna go check on the last shift, make sure they’re closed out.” He stormed past Lena, nearly bumping into her on the way out.

Eve thought this was all hilarious. “What’s his deal?”

Without looking at her, Lucy asked Eve, “Can you go help Mike?”

“What? He doesn’t need any hel—“

“Eve, can you. Go. Help. Mike?”

Eve finally got the hint and rolled her eyes. “Whatever, just don’t fuck on the table, we just wiped it down.”

Finally, the tension in the room dissipated when it was just Lucy and Lena left.

Lena leaned against her locker, in utter confusion. “What is his deal?”

Lucy started clearing the table. “We got 2 or 3 minutes, so I’ll give you the short version. Mike and Ben used to be roommates at NCU. They used to come here all the time. And then something happened in the spring, I guess when they pledged that stupid frat? And Mike got kicked out of NCU.”

“So why is he still around here? Why not go to another school?”

Lucy got that curious look again. She scoffed and laughed. “Should have known somebody driving a Tesla wouldn’t understand hardship.”

Lena popped off the locker door, a newfound anger swelling inside. “What the hell does that mean?!”

“Keep your voice down! They took his scholarship. He can’t go anywhere else.” Lucy grabbed her hoodie. “Now you have the sad backstory, let's get to work.”

That was the last of any discussion that night, non-work related at least. Lena just needed to through these two shifts and make it to Friday night.

* * *

“...of the utmost importance that you understand the greenhouse effect...no, that’s not a marijuana reference...thank you, Leslie.”

Kara would think the climate change talk was funny if she wasn’t—literally—from a destroyed planet. She appreciated her professor’s fervor to get a room full of sophomores to give a damn but some people don’t believe in something until lava rolls right by their doorstep. They can’t really conceptualize that all this could be gone one day.

Which is why she had to get Friday night right.

Kieran got out from Giuseppe’s at six.

James and Kelly were out of town with family.

Winn was at a hack-a-thon in LA.

The only hold out was Alex.

It’s not that Kara needed to clear out E.L. before hanging out with a girl. She just had a feeling about where things were heading with Kieran. And she didn’t need Alex’s sour mood killing her vibe.

When Kara got back from class, she was going to see if she and Alex could work something out. She found her sister upstairs, huddled over a textbook in her bedroom.

“Hey, Al...I need a favor.”

Alex didn’t even look up from her notes. “Look, last time I held the mirror for you to laser your junk, we almost burned the house down, so the answer is no.”

“Um, ok, first of all, my cousin told me a better way to do that and it doesn’t involve a mirror at all. And second, that’s not what I was gonna ask.”

“Ah,” Alex closed her book. “I know where this is going. Pizza Girl is coming over? And you don’t want anyone to hear all the noise you’ll be making.”

“Uh—look, there will be no _noise_ making, Alex!” Kara crossed her arms, protectively, over herself, leaning in Alex’s door frame. “I can’t even get near her without something…getting in the way.”

“And right now, I’m that something?”

“Well no, I mean…”

Alex looked at her expectantly.

“You were at best cordial to Kieran. And I want her to feel comfortable when she’s with me. Remember, you thought she was spawn of Satan based on a work pen.”

“Um, sibling of Satan and that fear still stands. Her name could be anything. You don’t know her and you want to be in our house, alone, with her.”

Kara couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “Are you kidding me right now? How many girls has James had in here? Or when you and Kelly took that ‘break’ last year, it was like you guys were competing to see who could get the most STDs out of sheer spite!”

Alex sighed and rubbed her eyes. “Look, it's Friday, I don’t wanna argue.” She started hastily packing her book bag. “I’ll head to the library and then probably close out a bar. That way when I get back I’ll be too wasted to give a shit.”

“Ale—“, Kara called out but her sister zipped out the bedroom door and down the stairs.

_Mission Accomplished but at what cost?_

* * *

On the way to the library, Alex—for the second time in a week—reached out to someone she swore off a long time ago:

_A: So I’ve been kicked out._

_DON’T PICKUP #3: trouble in paradise?_

_A: no, she’ll be back sunday...its cuz of ur co-worker_

_D: ah, Baby Danvers moves fast lol...ear plugs, problem solved_

_A: D I S G U S T I N G_

_A: i’m less worried about sounds than the consequences…_

_D: ???_

_A: don’t ply stupid, you know where shes from, I don’t trust her. She lied directly to my face_

_D: I dont thnk she’s like her brother, you have to give ppl a chance you know?_

_D: couch is free if you want tho_

* * *

Kara insisted that Lena come straight from work, but instead she decided to go back to her dorm and wash the pizza shop grime off. She’d get to Epsilon around 7.

She called Sam from her car. “Why am I nervous, it’s just gonna be movies and burnt popcorn.”

“You’ll be fine. She likes those homeless chic looks on you. If you’re lucky, she’ll take it off of you.” Sam picked out her outfit, a cream off-shoulder sweater and ripped Levi’s. She pouted when Lena refused to put on heels and opted for checkered Vans instead.

And now she at E.L.’s door, no stack of pizzas to hide behind. Just herself. Before her finger could hit the bell, the door opened.

_She looks so fucking good._

Kara had on this no-collar, deep red button-up—with probably one too many buttons undone—and her sleeves rolled up to her elbows. Her hair was pushed over her right shoulder, wavy as ever. And Lena couldn’t tell if her lips were that pink or if it was lip gloss. She hoped to find out tonight, directly.

“Hi.” Lena couldn’t believe how breathy she sounded. _Get it together._

“Hey!” Kara stepped aside to let her in. “I hope it’s not weird, the house is like a ghost town. Everybody...kinda had plans this weekend.”

Lena detected some sadness there but didn’t press it. “That’s ok,” Lena said, “Now we can make as much noise as we want.”

Kara’s eyes went wide for a brief moment. “Uh...we could—what?”

“Kara, I’m joking.” Lena absolutely wished she wasn’t joking. “Ok, where are these movies of yours?”

They started with ‘Clueless’—like they originally planned—and ordered sushi and dumplings because Lena couldn’t stand another slice of pepperoni from Giuseppe’s.

“We’ll get the scillian from them next time,” Kara said as she put the sushi menu away.

“Eh...one day, I’ll take you downtown to get good Sicilian pizza, not the stale stuff they sell there,” Lena said. “It won’t be the _actual_ Sicilian, since we’d have to go overseas for that, but it’s a reasonable facsimile.”

“You’ve been to Sicily?”

“Oh, um,” Lena stammered. She forgot that when you hang out with new people, they want to get to know you, the real you. “Yeah, a few years back, with my family.”

“With your brother, right?”

_She doesn’t miss a beat, good God._

“Yeah, with him, and my...uh, my stepmom.” Lena really wished that sushi would get here soon, if not to draw Kara out of this conversation topic.

“Oh wow, you have...a stepmom?” It was weird how Kara asked that. Lena saw an off-ramp here.

“Yeah. Unfortunately she’s not like the moms they have in uh...Midvale, is it?”

“Actually, I’m adopted…as well, I guess?” Kara’s shoulders sort of slumped at that admission and she started fidgeting with her hands in her lap. This was a sore subject, one that Lena knew too well.

She reached out—tentatively—and took Kara’s right hand. “Hey...I’m sorry, I’m being ass. My stepmom is kind of awful so I try to laugh it off. Most people can’t relate.”

“Yeah, mine isn’t awful, she’s great actually...she’s just...well, I don’t even call her ‘mom’? I call her Eliza? Is that weird? It’s been a few years and it’s like we still haven’t quite warmed up to each other.”

“It’s not weird at all,” Lena said, as she pushed some of Kara’s hair behind her ear. “I feel bad now, I kind of soured the mood. And we’re missing ‘Rollin’ with the Homies’.”

Kara let out a short laugh. “It’s fine, the movie was a pretext to get you here alone.” Lena rolled her eyes at that, despite agreeing wholeheartedly.

“And once the food shows up, the mood will take care of itself.”

That was an understatement. Lena had never seen a single person put away so many dumplings. It was like Kara was in her own private heaven. Lena ate her fair share as well, and midway through the next movie—‘The Sandlot’—she actually got...sleepy.

She conked out right on Kara’s shoulder. Kara didn’t want to move so as not to wake her. So she just lowered the movie volume and sat still, listening to Kieran’s light snore.

Being that close to Kieran, basically cuddling after eating a truckload worth of dumplings was probably the most at peace Kara had felt in years.

Then the strangest thing happened.

Kieran started mumbling.

At first it was nonsense, gibberish. But then eventually, she uttered something clear. Silly, but clear:

“We can’t play with those swords, Lex….hehehe…’cause they’re Confederate trash, you know I prefer French 17th century...”

_Lex?_ , Kara thought.

“...I’m not helping you…we’ll fuck up and I’ll end up bald just like you…”

Kara thought she was hallucinating or the mark in a bad prank. A pit started to form in her stomach. A mix of confusion and hurt. Could Alex have been right? Impossible.

And then Kieran continued, softly and with a hint of sadness: “...one day I’ll tell you everything, I promise…”

And somehow, Kara understood that more than anything.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Some things come to light!
> 
> And some things get yoked up in the dead of night!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you are still reading this, you’re an angel. I know I’m not as reliable as those other fic authors, so I really thank you for sticking with me.

It wasn’t in Kara’s nature to be distrusting. Naïve? No. But she believed most people were well-meaning, until proven otherwise. She was especially inclined to give Kieran the benefit of the doubt.

_People say crazy things in their sleep all the time, right?_

She hadn’t figured out how to address what she heard tonight.

_Hey Kieran, were you…dreaming about swords and Lex Luthor?_

It sounded ridiculous. 

But nothing was more ridiculous than hearing her sister, Alex, from 3 blocks down, clearly drunk, complaining about some girl named “Lena” and how she’s a _liar_. How she and “Lex” were up to _something_ , probably the same thing he did to James and Kelly before they moved to Midvale.

_Who was she talking to?_

A few more moments and the front door opened, with Alex being dragged in by Lucy. After taking a moment to stand up straight—it took a tremendous effort on Lucy’s part—Alex put her hands out wide and slurred, “Never fear. I, is here.”

“Shhh!” Kara didn’t want them to wake up Kieran.

“You shush!” Alex whispered loudly. She stumbled over to a couch opposite Kara and plopped down, making as much noise as possible.

Kieran woke up, face contorted in confusion. “...What?” 

Kara brushed some dark strands away from her face. “Hey, we have company,” she said, softly.

Kieran looked up to see Alex’s lips pursed in anger, her eyes reddened from drink. 

Lucy had been standing by the doorway, planning her exit. She knew what was about to happen. “I’m just gonna head ou—“

“Ah ah, sit down.” Alex patted the space next to her.

Lucy sat down, reluctantly. “Hey, Kara,” she said, gesturing vaguely, “Um...Kieran.”

Kara could tell this was going to end badly. “Al, you should go to bed.”

“Not until she stops lying. To me. To _you_. Why are you here?”

Kara had enough. “You’re drunk. So maybe you forgot that I invited he—“

“What am I lying about?”

Kara didn’t expect to be shut up by Kieran but the question was for Alex.

Kieran sat forward, elbows on her knees. “If I’m lying, you must know the truth, so what is it?”

A direct challenge.

It was clear Alex hadn’t thought this through. She figured she’d scuttle their evening and just make hanging out with Kara unbearable, until the rest of the house got back. But now the room was looking to her and Kieran wasn’t budging.

The irony of it all is only one person in the room didn’t know the truth. This was all a show—for Kara—to buy time. So that Kieran—Lena—could tell the truth on her own terms.

Alex wasn’t going to back down though. “We know who you are.”

“Whose we?” A rhetorical question. Kieran looked right at Lucy, who looked as if she wanted to disappear into thin air. This was not how she envisioned the night ending.

“This is pure comedy. So, the two of you thought you’d show up and bully me out of your house over some bullshit? And don’t even have the spine to come out with it because it means you've been gossiping behind people’s back for 2 we—”

“This is about _‘Lex’_ isn’t it?”

Now it was Kara’s turn to shut everyone up. Kieran looked over, her face the picture of fear. _She knows, she knows, she knows..._

Kara just looked sad, at this whole mess.

Kieran stood up abruptly and ran for the door.

Kara jumped up, sparing a glance and terse look at Alex and Lucy before running after Kieran. “Wait!”

* * *

“Kieran, wait, please.”

“Don’t,” Lena said, her voice breaking. She was trying so hard not to let the tears fall.

“Don’t tell me it’s okay, or that it doesn’t matter, or whatever the fuck you think will make it better ‘caus—“

“Kieran, it does matter. The truth does matter to me. But I wanted to hear it from you.”

Lena couldn’t read Kara’s face, the street was poorly lit, and there was little moonlight. She would have seen a mixture of sadness, worry, and disappointment. But underneath all of that was empathy.

“I’m sorry about Alex, she’s been awful to you. So I understand if you don’t want to see me again. But if you want to talk, I’m here.”

_She knows and she wants to talk…_

“We can talk...not here though.”

They drove to the residential campus, on the other side of NCU. It was 10 minutes in silence, after Lena told Kara they should be quiet. She would explain later.

Near the back of the campus, by the upperclassmen apartments, was a lightly wooded hill Lena liked to sit on. Barely anybody ever went up there, especially at night. So it was perfect on a Friday night—when everyone else was out at the bars or off-campus parties—to make sure she and anyone else were truly alone.

Lena grabbed a flannel blanket and flashlight from her trunk and held out her hand to Kara. “It’s a little steep, I don’t want you to slip.”

They both knew Kara didn’t need help, it was a convenient excuse for contact. They rolled out the blanket and sat side by side. The moon seemed to shine brighter in this space. 

Lena took a deep breath. “Up until 20 minutes ago, I was sure only Sam knew the truth. Seemed wrong to lie to a person you’d share a room with. Problem is my esteemed and paranoid stepmother bugged our room freshman year. So she knew I disobeyed her from the moment she turned her back.”

Kara shook her head in disbelief. “That’s...forgive me for this, but that’s insane.”

“Yeah, it made Thanksgiving break very entertaining.”

“But I guess that’s why you didn’t want to talk in the car either, right?”

“Exactly. I didn’t want her to hear me telling another person that my name is Lena Luthor…Lena Kieran Luthor.”

Lena was sure she would leave. Just get up and stride off the hill at the sound of her last name. The name is synonymous with all the typical real-world ills: inequity, greed, wanton disregard for others in pursuit of one's goals. 

Kara looked forward, not at anything in particular, putting this together. “Lena...Lena Luthor…”

Lena was trying to hide that her hands were trembling. “Yeah. My brother, my... _half_ -brother is Lex Luthor.”

Kara took Lena’s hand in her own. Her hand dwarfed Lena’s, like putting on a warm mitten. The trembling ceased and was replaced by the familiar downward pull whenever Kara was in contact with her.

“Why lie? It’s just a name.”

“Oh boy, if my mother heard you say that, she’d probably fling you into the sun.” Lena made a smug face, widening her eyes and turning up her nose. “ _Our name is all we have,_ she’d say...right before pressing the button. She always leaves out the 35-billion-in-assets part, but who's counting?”

Kara cocked her brow. “Why does she think you’ll hurt the _great_ Luthor name? You can’t do any worse than child labor in cobalt mines or arming every major conflict over the last 20 years. No offense.”

“None taken.” Hot and well-read. Lena figured it was just fashion and tabloid gossip at The Grant School. “Lillian thinks success at any cost is a virtue. One I’m lacking. But her _real_ issue with me is simple: my father gave both of us the name. But I have the blood. She can’t get rid of me, not physically or legally. Lex would never allow it. It would ruin whatever is left of our family.” 

“Protective in his own way.”

“Very much so. That’s why she plays these silly games. I do one thing she doesn’t like? Takes all my money. As if I wouldn’t get by.”

Kara smiled. Lena was resourceful, resilient. “So that’s why our pizza comes via Tesla.” 

“Luthor Corp has better prototypes but they don’t care about the consumer market,” Lena said with a shrug. “But enough about my car and my mom. How are your hands so soft?”

Lena’s hands were quite acquainted with chemical spills and other lab mishaps. Kara’s, not so much.

Kara smiled softly and said, “There’s a reason for that. I’m glad you were honest with me and before we go any further with...whatever this is, I want to be honest with you.” Kara understood what it was like to hide who one was. Being told to lie for her own good.

“What I’m about to tell you? It cannot. Leave. This. Hill. I’m not fr—”

“You’re an alien,” Lena said, matter-of-factly, looking at Kara with a hint of amusement.

“I—wait, what?” Kara was absolutely floored. She knows no one at EΛ would have told Lena. “Um...yeah...how do you know?”

“Well for starters, I’ve never seen anyone eat dumplings the way you did. It was...unholy. I also watched you inhale a funnel tube of Blue Moon, like it was nothing. Third, Kelly said it was unfair for you to play beer pong, I assume because you’d have to miss shots on purpose?”

Kara smirked and said, unconvincingly, “Um, I was really hungry and it was Miller and plenty of people don’t like beer pong.”

“Yeah, sure. It doesn’t help that Alex blows your cover to hell. She was afraid you’d break the car. That’s not a normal thing to worry about...unless you’ve done something like that in the past?”

All of Kara’s mishaps with her strength flashed before her eyes; she had to hold in the laughter. “No comment.”

Lena chuckled. “I bet once she found out who I was, she became apoplectic at the idea of you being near _Lena Luthor: Future Billionaire War Profiteer and Alien Hater_.” 

Kara hung her head, slightly embarrassed.

Lena lifted Kara’s chin with her finger. “It’s okay. She’s right to be protective of you. My family would lose it if they found out there are more people like that Metropolis guy. And your strength is part of who you are.”

Lena picked up Kara’s hand again and touched her lips to each knuckle, a devastating gesture.

“It’s also sexy.”

_Her eyes are so blue._

“Oh yea?”

_Her lips are so red._

“Yea.”

_She smells like rosemary—again—good God._

“I won’t say ‘you’re not so bad yourself’ but...well…”

_Is that her heartbeat or mi—_

All thoughts ceased when their lips met. The only thing that existed was feeling: Kara’s hands in Lena’s hair, Lena trying to pull Kara closer by her shirt, the brief chill of air between them when Kara pulled away and tossed her glasses into another zip code. She pulled Lena onto her lap—a deliberate show of strength—and their lips crashed against each other again, tongues probing for entry.

Kara relented first, her pink lips parting, in part because she was panting. Lena slanted her mouth over the blonde’s, sliding her tongue over Kara’s. The feeling she had when she first saw Kara, it had returned tenfold. She found herself slowly grinding on Kara’s lap, her hips moving in little circles.

It was messy and a bit awkward: Lena couldn’t remember the last girl who touched her and Kara, despite wanting to touch Lena desperately, was afraid of losing control. She placed her hands on Lena’s hips, stilling her movement but mostly to ground herself before something crazy happened.

“W-wait…”, Kara said, between nibbles at her lips and chin.

“Hmmm…” was the only sound out of Lena as she started on Kara’s ear.

“Oh…Rao…”

Lena chuckled and said “Who’s she?”

“Um...it’s not a person...it’s, uh...I’ll explain later, when we’re not here...in the woods on a flannel?”

Lena immediately pulled back. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to jump your bones, am I moving too fast, I—“

“Hey, it’s okay.” Kara gently held her face and stroked her hair. “It’s more than okay, I’ve been thinking about it from the day I met you. I just...haven’t done this too often so…”

“One step at a time?”

“Yeah. Something like—“

There was a sound. Far away, only Kara could hear it. She wrapped her arm around Lena and stood up all in one motion, eyes darting from side to side.

“Is something wrong?” Lena asked, breathless from being moved around. 

“No, I just...it’s nothing.” A lie. Whoever it was, they weren’t normal: they knew they were caught and already disappeared. They were _fast_ , like Kara. “We should get back, Alex has probably puked her weight in Patrón by now.”

They drove back, mostly in silence, but this time, it was without the tension from earlier. As if laying out their cards removed the last bit of anxiety and nervousness.

When they got back to ΕΛ, Kara couldn’t wait to finally talk again.

“The touchscreen!”, Kara blurted out.

Lena was confused. “What about it?”

“Your...bug problem. Behind the touchscreen.”

“You hardly looked!”

Kara was delighted. She rarely gets to show off. “Um, I’m able to...well,” and said while dropping her voice, “see through things?”

Lena raised her eyebrows at this. “Oh really? What am I wearing under all this?”

The blonde’s face flushed deep red. She would never admit it but she definitely knew exactly what was underneath Lena’s clothes.

“Uh…” Kara needed to regain some control here. “You can show me that on another day.” She winked at her. It was very effective without the glasses. “As for the bug I have no idea how to get it without breaking that screen.”

“Don’t worry, now that I know where to look, Sam and I will take care of that.” Lena looped her arms around the blonde’s neck, looking up at her. “You sure you’re okay? With Alex and all that? Maybe we can go smooth things over?“

Kara shook her head. “We’ll be fine. She thinks all you Luthors are the same. It’ll just take time.” She leaned down for a soft kiss. She so desperately wanted her to come back inside but knew it wasn’t the right time. “Text me when you get back, ok?” 

“Of course.”

After Lena pulled off, Kara turned her focus to ΕΛ. A deep snore and only one heartbeat on the second floor. Lucy must have left.

 _Good_ , Kara thought. _One less awkward conversation_.

Alex was out cold on Kelly’s side of the bed. She still had jeans on but managed to get her shoes off, so that was a plus. Kara laid down on the other side, feet nearly hanging off the end. She briefly wondered how two people could regularly fit in this thing. She had the same bed upstairs.

She and Alex would hash things out in the morning, hopefully after her sister put away some aspirin and a gallon of water. For now, Kara closed her eyes, ready for sleep, and trained her ears on a now familiar electric hum.

* * *

Lena pulled into the small lot behind her dorm, brimming with a weird energy. Tonight’s events were wild, there was no way she could go to sleep feeling like this. Plus Sam will probably want every last sordid detail. 

Unfortunately Sam would not get those details tonight, as a dark blur descended on Lena as she stepped out of the car. 

**Author's Note:**

> This came from a tumblr prompt by sups-in-my-corp, also known as UnknownBard here on Ao3.
> 
> Find me on Tumblr at slipfromgrasp


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